(Re: Journal of Robert Hodge—Journal in possession of DeKalb County Historical Society)

Permission given by DeKalb County Historical Society

‘J.P.’ closes the books on an era, Hodge was stern pugilistic judge.

Cardboard boxes sit in his office, both empty and filled and await transportation across the street to the Courthouse, Justice of the Peace Robert Hodge is closing the books not only on his almost 15 years as Union Township Justice of the Peace, but also on an era.

The justice of the peace system in use in Indiana since the state’s first constitution in 1816 and before that through the laws of the Northwest Territory dated in 1788, will be replaced beginning Jan. 1, 1976 by the new county court system mandated by the1975 Indiana General Assembly.

The records compiled by J. P. Hodge will be filed in the Courthouse or disposed of according to State Board of Accounts requirements. And J. P. Hodge says getting ready to leave office has been a harder job than his normal work load.

For the last three years this reporter had made almost weekly visits to J. P. Hodge’s office to gather statistics from this court and exchange thoughts with him.

Not a large man, the J. P. by his own estimation has often been pugilistic to get his point across. "I never minded a fight, but I always liked to know I had some say so," he says. He’s straight forward – a product of his generation with common sense values that sometimes seem lost in succeeding generations in reams of red tape for progress sake.

"I have no use for legal technicalities. All I care about is the facts of the case," J. P. Hodge says. "We have to get back to simplistics," he asserts, "Simplicity is nature, complexity isn’t.

In the same vein, the judge says he doesn’t believe in compromise either. "To comprise is to admit you’re half wrong."

Now almost 80, J. P. Hodge first took office March 1, 1961. His case load has grown from 154 that year to 1,758 last year. His day has started early with a visit to the county police department by 8 a.m. to pick up traffic tickets.

"I’ve been a pretty close observer of people," the judge says. "I’ve got so when someone comes in and tells me a falsehood, I think I know it as well as he does."

And he’s heard some stories too. "People come in here and tell me what fine parents they have. What’s that got to do with a speeding ticket?"

"I’ve been fooled, and I’ve made mistakes," Hodge admits, "but I’ve tried never to make the same one twice."

Hodge, a staunch conservative, is a striet constuctionist when it come to interpreting the Constitution, and he’s critical of the way the document has been interpreted.

"They’re making the Constitution fit the times. They should make the times fit the Constitution."

Of his years in office he says simply, "I got the job and I did it." "I’m pretty near 80, but I’m not ready to quit. "I was never cut out for setting down and feeling sorry for myself."

The judge plans to do some writing during his retirement and spend time with his wife, Rebecca. (Re: The Evening Star - December 17, 1975)